WASHINGTON (AP) —
The U.S. State Department announced new sanctions on Russian state media Friday, accusing a Kremlin news outlet of working hand-in-hand with the Russian military and running fundraising campaigns to pay for sniper rifles, body armor and other equipment for soldiers fighting in Ukraine.
While the outlet, RT, has previously been sanctioned for its work to spread Kremlin propaganda and disinformation, the allegations announced Friday suggest its role goes far beyond influence operations. Instead, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, RT is a key part of Russia's war machine and its efforts to undermine its democratic allies.
“RT wants its new covert intelligence capabilities, like its longstanding propaganda disinformation efforts, to remain hidden,” Blinken said Friday. “Our most powerful antidote to Russia’s lies is the truth. It’s shining a bright light on what the Kremlin is trying to do under the cover of darkness.”
RT has also created websites posing as legitimate news sites to spread disinformation and propaganda in Europe, Africa, South America and elsewhere, officials said. They say the outlet has also expanded its use of cyber operations with a new unit with ties to Russian intelligence created last year.
The crowd-sourcing effort sought to raise funds for Russian military supplies, some of which were procured in China, officials said. There were no obvious connections between RT and the fundraising campaign, or any indication that Chinese officials knew their products were being sold to Russia.
RT's actions show "it's not just a firehouse of disinformation, but a fully fledged member of the intelligence apparatus and operation of the Russian government,” said Jamie Rubin, who heads the State Department's Global Engagement Center.
The sanctions announced Friday target RT’s parent organization, TV-Novosti, as well as a related state media group called Rossiya Segodnya, as well as Dmitry Kiselyov, Rossiya Segodnya’s general director. A third organization and its leader, Nelli Parutenko, were also sanctioned for allegedly running a vote-buying scheme in Moldova designed to help Moscow’s preferred candidates in an upcoming election.
David Klepper, The Associated Press